Margot Robbie recently graced the Los Angeles premiere of Wuthering Heights, looking every bit an elegant icon in a Schiaparelli gown previously featured in the recent Spring 2026 collection. Yet, you could not miss the glimmer of history that rests on her neck. What may appear to be an intricately forged piece of art, the pendant carries a story of love that spanned two pivotal generations in the Indian Subcontinent.
A Gift for a Beloved
This story begins with Jahangir, ruler of the Mughal empire from 1605 to 1627. The necklace was a gift for his wife, Nur Jahan. As his health deteriorated, she stood as co-sovereign, steering the empire toward prosperity, making her the most powerful woman of 17th-century India.
A testament to Mughal craftsmanship and artistry, the pendant dazzles with a heart-shaped diamond mounted on soft jade, framed by gold, rubies and smaller diamonds. It bears a Persian inscription in the elegant Nastaliq script that reads ‘love is everlasting’. Beside it, the title Nur Jahan and Lady of the Padshah (Lady of the Emperor) are etched forever into the stone, alongside the Islamic year 1037 (roughly 1627 AD) and the number 23, the imperial year of Jahangir.
The Taj Mahal Diamond
When Jahangir’s son, Shah Jahan, took over the throne in 1627, the empire was enriched with geographical expansions and multiple famous monuments. He presented his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, with this family heirloom. When she tragically died during childbirth, her grieving husband built the Taj Mahal as her eternal resting place. It gave the pendant its legendary name: The Taj Mahal Diamond, which originally hung from a traditional Indian silk cord in true regal Mughal fashion.
From Elizabeth Taylor to Auction Scandals
Fast forward a few centuries and the jewel lay within the vaults of Cartier, where it caught the eye of Richard Burton, the Welsh actor known for his role in the 1964 production, Hamlet. In 1972, he bought the prized possession for a whopping £350,000 to surprise his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, the British-American actor, for her 40th birthday during a trip to Budapest.
When Elizabeth Taylor died in 2011, the pendant was auctioned at Christie’s for a staggering $8.8 million. The price became a world record for an Indian jewel to be auctioned. However, the sale later slipped into murky waters as the anonymous buyer demanded a cancellation, questioning the stone’s Mughal origins despite the inscriptions. Christie’s Auction House eventually did revoke the sale and the jewel returned to the shadows until now.
An Historic Artefact or Mere High Fashion
Seeing Robbie flash this historic Indian heirloom reignites a fiery debate about cultural ownership and the red carpet. Critics haven’t forgotten the 2025 Met Gala, where Punjabi singer-superstar Diljit Dosanjh was reportedly denied the opportunity to wear the iconic Patiala Necklace, also held by Cartier. The brand cited fragility as the reason, a response that felt double standard to many, given how it was loaned to Western celebrities and influencers.
The star highlighted the Western narrative behind the piece, yet its historical significance was essentially explained as “originally belonging to the woman buried under the Taj Mahal”. When cultural history, whether South Asian or otherwise, is stripped of its context to serve as a mere accessory for celebrity glamour, the true essence of history is lost. In obtaining high fashion, are we doing justice to the cultures that birthed these artefacts, or are we just using history as a prop?